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Teddy Ruxpin "The World's First Animated Talking Toy!" By Euphrates
Every Christmas there is a must-have toy for children. Remember Cabbage Patch Kids, Furbys and
Sing and Snore Ernies? In the mid-'80s Teddy Ruxpin enjoyed his moment in the spotlight as the
first circle in the Christmas catalog. Like Cabbage Patch Kids he proved that he was no
one-Christmas wonder, enjoying a run into the '90s spanning 3 sizes and manufacturing
configurations.
Teddy and his caterpillar friend Grubby were from the land of Grundo. That alone makes them pretty special under ordinary circumstances. The thing that made them extraordinary was that they were animated in a Showbiz Pizza kind of way. Just pop the special tape that contained inaudible movement commands into Teddy and suddenly his eyes and mouth are moving in synch with the story on the tape. Pretty heavy stuff for 1985. The early full-sized Teddy's were manufactured by Worlds of Wonder or WOW, until 1989. Then they were produced by WOW/Playskool and Teddy had a new size and now used special cartridges rather than tapes. Teddy got even smaller when Yes! Entertainment made the latest version from 1998-1999. The Teddy concept was pretty cool but you needed lots of books/tapes/cartridges to keep him interesting and WOW obliged with over 40 titles. The 3 different Teddys cannot share stories as none of the tapes/cartridges are downward or upward compatible. Like any favorite that shares time on store shelves and TV, children could enjoyed a wealth of Teddy Ruxpin related merchandise like outfits, videos, bedsheets, phones, puzzles, backpacks, ballons and much more. Partial List of Books/Cassettes/Cartridges
A Wedding in Grundo |
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